This is a thrilling object to possess with a fascinating history. It is as certain as can be that Adams wrote his most famous work 'The Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy' on this Hermes Standard 8. Aside from the supporting provenance, it still contains much evidence of his ownership and regular use. It bears an anti-apartheid sticker on one side of the object and is boldly signed across the front casing by Adams in his unmistakeable hand. It comes housed in its cardboard box which Adams used to transport it, namely packaging from Simon and Schuster, originally containing copies of Adams and Terry Jones' collaboration 'Starship Titanic'.

An address label to Adams' office at the Digital Village, London, remains stuck on the box too. The typewriter itself is in attractive condition to display, but is entirely unrestored and as precisely as it was when it was owned by Adams. It is frequently mentioned by all who knew him that writing was often a torment for him and as such his lateness was legendary. He once said 'I love deadlines. I love the whoosing sound they make as they fly by', and such was his difficulty in producing work on time that in a well-documented act of desperation his publishers once locked him in a hotel room until he typed enough pages to be let out!